Natural Mouse Setups
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Natural Mouse Setups
by Adamaris Wed 23 Jan 2019, 10:34 pm
Has anyone as of yet kept truly natural mouse setups? I'm talking soil/eco earth substrate, live potted plants, and only natural looking branches and sprintails for cleanup crew? I do all setups for both reptiles and fish and have notice a great deal more activity in my animals and and overall health. I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with trying to keep their pets as close to nature as possible.
Adamaris- New Member
- Join date : 2019-01-21
Posts : 15
Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by MouseLover Thu 24 Jan 2019, 5:09 am
I think the natural looking set-ups are very pretty, but I don't think I've ever seen it done for mice. I've seen a lot of natural-themed hamster set ups, so maybe you could get some inspiration from hamster owners? Also, people who keep harvest mice keep them in very natural set-ups which look absolutely beautiful.
One problem I can think of for doing this with mice, is that their pee stinks. In my experience, hamsters are a lot less stinky and need cleaning out less often than mice. And harvest mice hardly smell at all (apparently you can easily go three months without cleaning their tanks out!). With so many natural items, I'd be worried how quickly they would all start to smell. I'm not sure if there's any kind of mouse-safe clear varnish that could help waterproof wooden items a bit? I've given my mice natural items like those nests made out of grass, or items made of natural wood with the bark on, and they look really pretty and the mice love them, but they need replacing pretty quickly.
I think I've heard that the tank substrate made from coconut husks is pretty good for mice, but I've not used it myself. Any plants would obviously have to be safe if they decided to nibble on them, and if they're in pots be prepared for the mice to try and dig them up for fun lol. No idea about springtails, I had to google it to see what you were talking about tbh
I guess you'd have to make sure they were safe for mice to eat, as they will eat bugs sometimes (though I'd be very surprised if it wasn't safe).
Sometimes if I'm trying to give a bit more of a natural vibe to my mouse cages, I will combine proper natural items with things that aren't natural but fit the theme and are lower maintenance (e.g. a ceramic house in the shape of an acorn).
If you do come up with anything cool I'm interested though. Lately I've been thinking of giving my future mouse a more natural theme, or even a middle-earth theme to go with this adorable little hobbit-style house I have for him
One problem I can think of for doing this with mice, is that their pee stinks. In my experience, hamsters are a lot less stinky and need cleaning out less often than mice. And harvest mice hardly smell at all (apparently you can easily go three months without cleaning their tanks out!). With so many natural items, I'd be worried how quickly they would all start to smell. I'm not sure if there's any kind of mouse-safe clear varnish that could help waterproof wooden items a bit? I've given my mice natural items like those nests made out of grass, or items made of natural wood with the bark on, and they look really pretty and the mice love them, but they need replacing pretty quickly.
I think I've heard that the tank substrate made from coconut husks is pretty good for mice, but I've not used it myself. Any plants would obviously have to be safe if they decided to nibble on them, and if they're in pots be prepared for the mice to try and dig them up for fun lol. No idea about springtails, I had to google it to see what you were talking about tbh
I guess you'd have to make sure they were safe for mice to eat, as they will eat bugs sometimes (though I'd be very surprised if it wasn't safe).Sometimes if I'm trying to give a bit more of a natural vibe to my mouse cages, I will combine proper natural items with things that aren't natural but fit the theme and are lower maintenance (e.g. a ceramic house in the shape of an acorn).
If you do come up with anything cool I'm interested though. Lately I've been thinking of giving my future mouse a more natural theme, or even a middle-earth theme to go with this adorable little hobbit-style house I have for him
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Current Mice: None.
Rainbow Bridge: Daisy, Peach, Ivy, Penelope, Hazel, Ruby, Clover, Peanut, Minnie, Ginger, Honey, Violet, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.
MouseLover- Hero Member
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Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by Adamaris Thu 24 Jan 2019, 8:44 am
That was my only worry about eco earth is that mice do stink but soil and eco earth have actually been doing great with all my animal skinks. I would say skink stink a million times worse with their poop and the soil seems to soak up that smell very well so long as I stay on top of poop collection.
Wooden stuff I use to keep for my mice when I had them and I normally threw stuff out after a certain time, especially grass things though wood can be boiled if it's sturdy enough. I use to boil it in some water with a dash of white vinegar to lift the ammonia smell better and then boil it twice more to get the vinegar smell off it. Still do this with my reptile logs every few months to keep bacteria populations down on their wood.
Already way ahead on the game with the digging up plants and eating them game. My skink being a burrowing and omnivorous species is the lord of this and at 18" can probably beat a mouse in plant destruction skills. I have grown use to keeping a 'mother pot' outside the tank where I grow his edible plants and replace them as he kills the ones in his tank.
Also springtails are safe to eat, many dart frog owners keep them with dart frogs as a food source but springtails are too tiny for a mouse to catch. I also keep my springtails as a food source for my ants. I think isopods would be more bug eating speed for mice though I have some more expensive isopods so I probably wouldn't put any in the mouse enclosure. I don't even trust the anoles with those isopods. Once I get a cheaper species I'll probably split them between everyone because they are a great source of calcium.
Wooden stuff I use to keep for my mice when I had them and I normally threw stuff out after a certain time, especially grass things though wood can be boiled if it's sturdy enough. I use to boil it in some water with a dash of white vinegar to lift the ammonia smell better and then boil it twice more to get the vinegar smell off it. Still do this with my reptile logs every few months to keep bacteria populations down on their wood.
Already way ahead on the game with the digging up plants and eating them game. My skink being a burrowing and omnivorous species is the lord of this and at 18" can probably beat a mouse in plant destruction skills. I have grown use to keeping a 'mother pot' outside the tank where I grow his edible plants and replace them as he kills the ones in his tank.
Also springtails are safe to eat, many dart frog owners keep them with dart frogs as a food source but springtails are too tiny for a mouse to catch. I also keep my springtails as a food source for my ants. I think isopods would be more bug eating speed for mice though I have some more expensive isopods so I probably wouldn't put any in the mouse enclosure. I don't even trust the anoles with those isopods. Once I get a cheaper species I'll probably split them between everyone because they are a great source of calcium.
Adamaris- New Member
- Join date : 2019-01-21
Posts : 15
Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by CallaLily Sun 03 Feb 2019, 5:54 pm
I’ve seen these setups with reptiles and hermit crabs but I haven’t seen any done for mice. Please share pics and how it works out for you, if you decide to!
CallaLily- Hero Member
- Join date : 2016-04-03
Posts : 3937
Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by MouseLover Tue 05 Feb 2019, 11:44 am
Just popped by to mention that I very randomly stumbled upon a Facebook group called "Bioactive and Naturalistic Mammal Setups". I didn't join the group so I can't comment on how good the posts are on there, but I thought it sounded like a group you might want to join if you're on Facebook Adamaris 
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Current Mice: None.
Rainbow Bridge: Daisy, Peach, Ivy, Penelope, Hazel, Ruby, Clover, Peanut, Minnie, Ginger, Honey, Violet, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.
MouseLover- Hero Member
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Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by j.n379 Tue 12 Feb 2019, 1:18 pm
Yes I was about to mention that group.
Doxxy time, I am in that group and comment semi regularly lol
There are two or three people who have set up bioactive mouse tanks, but consensus is that it can never be fully self cleaning and needs substrate replacement every 3-6 months at least partially.
I don't have a big enough cage to do that, but I do use the compressed eco earth soil under their wheels to extend the time between cleanings since I have a very bad back and every time I clean a cage it destroys me. I've also given them potted baby lettuce plants to destroy at the end of the growing season when they needed to be pulled from the garden anyways. Not directly from outside, I washed off all the old soil to get rid of bugs and then left it in new clean dirt indoors a few days to make sure. Sometimes if I scatter their seed mix right after adding new soil a few will sprout.
Doxxy time, I am in that group and comment semi regularly lol
There are two or three people who have set up bioactive mouse tanks, but consensus is that it can never be fully self cleaning and needs substrate replacement every 3-6 months at least partially.
I don't have a big enough cage to do that, but I do use the compressed eco earth soil under their wheels to extend the time between cleanings since I have a very bad back and every time I clean a cage it destroys me. I've also given them potted baby lettuce plants to destroy at the end of the growing season when they needed to be pulled from the garden anyways. Not directly from outside, I washed off all the old soil to get rid of bugs and then left it in new clean dirt indoors a few days to make sure. Sometimes if I scatter their seed mix right after adding new soil a few will sprout.
j.n379- Full Member
- Join date : 2018-04-13
Posts : 69
Re: Natural Mouse Setups
by Fairy Tails Mousery Tue 26 Feb 2019, 9:02 pm
I tried Eco Eath once and NEVER again! What a mess!!! I don't know how reptile people stand it, it just gets everywhere. No thanks, back to Carefresh and always been happy with it.
Fairy Tails Mousery- New Member
- Join date : 2019-02-05
Posts : 8
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